The townhall debate that is not. The moderator is not going to follow the rules and the questions were selected days ago.

Candy Crowley, tonight's moderator from CNN,  has made it clear that she does not intend on abiding by the rules.  She is going to hold to the practice of rephrasing or restating questions selected from the audience,  questions that were sent in days ago. 
                          
The Commission on Presidential Debates does not want Candy Crowley, the debate moderator, to reinterpret audience members' questions -- a small but important point in this ongoing debate over what role the moderator is meant to play in the townhall-format debate.
"Our only issue is that the citizen questioners get their chance to pose the question without reinterpretation from the moderator," CPD co-chairman Mike McCurry tells Tech President's Micah Sifry today.
That hardly provides clarity. In one interview with CNN, Crowley said, “Once the table is kind of set by the town hall questioner, there is then time for me to say, ‘Hey, wait a second, what about x, y, z?’." In another, "If the town hall person asks about apples, and they answer oranges, I get to say, ‘Wait a second, the question was about apples — let’s talk about that.'
The Commission on Presidential Debates does not want Candy Crowley, the debate moderator, to reinterpret audience members' questions -- a small but important point in this ongoing debate over what role the moderator is meant to play in the the townhall-format debate.

"Our only issue is that the citizen questioners get their chance to pose the question without reinterpretation from the moderator," CPD co-chairman Mike McCurry tells TechPresident's Micah Sifry today.

That hardly provides clarity. In one interview with CNN, Crowley said, “Once the table is kind of set by the town hall questioner, there is then time for me to say, ‘Hey, wait a second, what about x, y, z?’." In another, "If the town hall person asks about apples, and they answer oranges, I get to say, ‘Wait a second, the question was about apples — let’s talk about that.' "

My question is this:  why does Crowley think rephrasing the questions need to her job?  If the candidates needs "clarity,"  they can ask the folks who posed the questions.  They will be in the hall.  

There are no Progressive journalists unaware of the fact that Obama is in serious election trouble. Based on recent conduct,  there is no reason to believe that Crowley will be any more "objective" than Chris Matthews or Jay Carney.

In the VP last week,  the moderator actually debated Paul Ryan a number of times,  although,  I do not believe that she over played that hand.   Time will tell if Crowley will do her job,  or decide to rescue Obama.  

I must admit that the more conservative reporters at Fox News speak well of Crowley.